The Home Depot has been recognized as a global leader on corporate climate action for its efforts to reduce its environmental impact and build a more sustainable future for consumers and their homes. CDP, an environmental impact non-profit, named The Home Depot to its Climate Change “A List” for its actions to cut carbon emissions and mitigate climate risks.
Every year, thousands of companies disclose data about their environmental impacts to CDP for independent assessment and receive scores ranging from A to D- for how effectively they are tackling climate risks and building toward a future zero-carbon economy.
The Home Depot is focused on reducing carbon emissions by continually improving energy efficiency in its operations and expanding investments in renewable and alternative energy. As a result, the company has reduced absolute carbon emissions by over 3 million metric tonnes since 2009. This was achieved amid significant growth – from $66 billion in sales in 2008 to $108 billion in 2018. The company also set science-based targets in 2018 to achieve a 40 percent reduction in its carbon emissions by 2030 and a 50 percent reduction by 2035.
“We’re honored to be recognized by the CDP for our efforts to reduce our environmental impact,” said Ron Jarvis, vice president of environmental. “Our results come from making improvements kilowatt by kilowatt. We’ve retrofitted LED lighting in more than 1,300 stores, installed energy-efficient heating, air-conditioning and ventilation systems in 133 stores, and have updated HVAC units in 467 stores. As a result of these and other initiatives, from 2010 to 2018, energy consumption at our U.S. stores decreased 26 percent, ahead of our stated goal for a 20 percent reduction by 2020. We constantly strive to improve the sustainability of our operations, because it’s good for our business and good for the planet.”
Even as its business grows, The Home Depot has taken steps to lessen the environmental impact of each mile its goods travel with the company’s multiyear supply chain synchronization initiative. This approach incorporates and builds on clean transportation best practices throughout its supply chain. In 2018, the company shrank its supply chain emissions intensity by six percent, reducing the carbon dioxide produced for each unit consumed. The company also eliminated over 117,000 truckloads in the U.S. in 2018 through supply chain efficiencies, and leverages green technologies like hydrogen fuel cells, which produce off-the-grid power, within its supply chain operations.
The company also believes the biggest environmental impact it can make is through the products it sells to customers. The Home Depot is tracking ahead of stated goals to help customers cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million metric tonnes through 2020. The company offers over 22,000 ENERGY STAR products in stores and online, and sold more than 231 million units of these products. This furthers The Home Depot’s goal to help customers save $2.8 billion in energy costs.
To learn more about how The Home Depot is reducing its environmental impact, view the 2019 Home Depot Responsibility Report. The report is available as an overview infographic, digital book and PDF on The Home Depot’s corporate newsroom Built from Scratch.
